


You're My Weakness, You're My Strength

by babieken



Category: VIXX
Genre: Alternate Universe - Marvel Cinematic Universe Fusion, Hurt/Comfort, I messed up their ages again :))), M/M, Smut, VIXX as Avengers, a lot of made up shit lijsflisf, lowkey neo if you squint, so its Hakyeon and Wonshik > the rest > Jaehwan, there's some violence? very mild, you'll see why uwu
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-08-30
Updated: 2020-08-30
Packaged: 2021-03-06 14:46:43
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 15,700
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26200603
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/babieken/pseuds/babieken
Summary: No one is broken beyond repair.orthe one where Wonshik fucked up big times but Hakyeon never gave up on him and Jaehwan never lost hope.(that's the vaguest summary I've ever written lsihdlsdh)
Relationships: Kim Wonshik | Ravi/Lee Jaehwan | Ken
Comments: 7
Kudos: 17





	You're My Weakness, You're My Strength

**Author's Note:**

> I'm back??? yay?? *laughs nervously*  
> (ao3 why u messing up the tags like that... the messed up tag is Hakyeon and Wonshik > the rest > Jaehwan)

“Hey Hongbin, I think my arm piece is broken,” Hakyeon called, the others walking behind him.

“Yeah, I saw how you smashed someone’s skull with it.” The younger rolled his eyes. They had just neutralized a terrorist attack downtown; Hakyeon had no time to think about not breaking his tech. And besides, he was responsible for everyone’s safety, too. 

_ I don't want to be in his shoes, _ Jaehwan thought.

He couldn’t wait to take his tight red suit off. The weather was not kind to them, hero or not. Hot and humid was the worst possible weather to be in those suits. But he was thankful that he didn’t have any major injuries, only a few cuts here and there. Everyone was still treating him like the youngest - which he was - but he wasn’t a kid anymore. He didn’t need protecting.

But Cap always assured him that they  _ all  _ had each other's backs at all times and it wasn’t just him, but it usually didn’t feel like it.

“What’s gotten into you, Hwanie? You’re being uncharacteristically quiet,” Hakyeon asked. Hongbin had called for some cars to pick them up and take them back to base. The van they had come with was now nothing but ashes.

“Stop calling me that, hyung, I’m not that 18-year-old kid anymore,” he whined. 

“But you’re still our baby, Hwanie,” Hakyeon cooed, patting his head on the suit mask. The cars arrived before Jaehwan got to voice his irritation but he heard Sanghyuk and Hongbin laugh behind him before getting into one of the two cars.

“He’s right though,” the other hyung who had been quiet until then spoke as he got into the back seat with Jaehwan. “You’re babying him too much.”

Hakyeon turned his neck from the passenger seat and raised a brow at Taekwoon. “Who’s the one who cooks him all his favorite dishes every night?”

Taekwoon pursed his lips. “I would make yours too if you weren’t so annoying.”

“If you don’t stop I’ll throw myself out of the car,” Jaehwan threatened, almost shouting. It was a good thing that the cars were fully automatic and didn’t have a driver or they’d be judging them hard. The two went quiet after that. Sometimes the two elders were more like children. 

“Any word from Wonshik recently?” Taekwoon asked Hakyeon, because he was the only one who could contact the mysterious man.

The winter soldier was not very social and unlike the others, he didn’t live with them at the base. He visited every few weeks, maybe even months, and he was either low on weapons or in need of something specific, or he was injured. Hakyeon, captain of the team and his oldest friend, was the only one he was in contact with but only when he wanted. Hakyeon could only send messages if they needed him for a mission and hoped he would show up. Most of the time he would.

“Last time I heard of him he was in North Africa. I don’t even know exactly where.” Hakyeon shook his head. He worried about his friend all the time. Sometimes they would hear something on the news and just knew it was him but other than that he was mostly radio silent. He preferred it that way. Hakyeon had practically begged him to stay with them at least for a while one time after he was injured badly but he had refused.

Jaehwan was really interested in the guy even though he had only met him a handful of times. He always tried to strike a conversation with him but he was colder than an ice mount; the others joke that he leaves because Jaehwan talks too much. And there was something in his eyes… it seemed like he was screaming with them sometimes.

All those years of being turned into a weapon used by Hydra to commit the filthiest of crimes, being reduced to a mere killing machine and having his mind tampered with must have done a number on him. None of them could imagine what he’d been through. 

Not Hakyeon, who slept in ice for half a century and woke up to a new, messed up age. Not Taekwoon’s years of training and working for the RGB. Certainly not Hongbin, born into wealth and intelligence even though life wasn’t easy on him all the time. Wait, what happened to Sanghyuk? Did he play with gamma radiation? 

And Jaehwan, who was young and admittedly more naive than he’d like to admit.

..

It was a little over two weeks later when the man with the metal arm showed up out of the blue. He looked unharmed, surprisingly. Hakyeon was ecstatic.

“Wonshik! Welcome home!” he shrieked cheerfully before the man set both feet inside the living room area. Hakyeon had seen him enter the property on the surveillance.

“This is not my home,” he said coldly as he made a beeline around Hakyeon and towards the closest bathroom.

“Sure it is! Or you wouldn’t keep coming back.” The bathroom door shut before Hakyeon finished his sentence.

“You’re pushing it,” Hongbin pointed out from the other side of the room, sitting with his weird looking laptop on his lap. “One of these days he’ll leave and won’t come back.”

“Don’t say that!” Hakyeon barked.

Watching the others argue was sorta like watching his parents fight. But he had a paper to finish and Hakyeon wouldn’t let him hear the end of it if he failed his class (not that he would). 

Taking online classes was Hongbin’s idea.  _ The wifi is good. Why bother traveling around? _

“I’m going to bed,” Hakyeon said, shaking his head; he was not feeling like arguing with the younger tonight.

“Yeah, go to bed old man, your bones must be hurting!” Hongbin chuckled. Jaehwan wondered if Hongbin was on a mission to get punched by Hakyeon sometimes.

Hakyeon closed his eyes and took a deep breath before continuing to walk towards his bedroom upstairs. It was past 2 am.

“Why are you still up, kid?” Hongbin asked with a smirk, showing off his dimples. Jaehwan pressed his lips into a thin line.

“I have a paper to finish.”

“Ah… school, right. Good luck kid.” He closed his laptop and patted Jaehwan’s head on his way out. 

Jaehwan just wanted to finish this damn paper and submit it before morning so he took a deep breath, cracked his knuckles and got to work. By the time he was finished it was almost 4 am but he felt accomplished and he could sleep all day knowing he’s done with his assignment.

The bathroom door clicked open and the mysterious man stepped out. Jaehwan checked his watch again. Did the man stay in the shower for 2 hours?

“Hyung? Are you ok...ay...ah.” Wonshik stepped into the light of the living room and revealed to be completely naked save for the small white towel wrapped around his waist and water dripping from his hair and shoulders. His jet black hair had gotten quite long. It was almost shoulder length. His tan skin and his metal arm were glowing under the dim yellow light in the living room and his tattoos were as dark as his eyes. Jaehwan’s jaw almost dropped and he tripped over his words.

“I fell asleep in the bath,” the man answered simply, voice hoarse and sleepy.

“Whahh..” Jaehwan’s eyes went wide. He must have been really tired. “Hyung, that’s dangerous! Please be more careful!”

Wonshik looked at him, unmoving for a moment, then broke into an amused chuckle. 

“I have slept in far more dangerous places than a bathtub.” He rolled his eyes, the corner of his mouth curved into a smirk.

Jaehwan felt his cheeks burning up. Of course he had experienced more dangerous stuff… he’s such an idiot.

Wonshik chuckled again, amused by Jaehwan’s embarrassment. “Goodnight Jaehwan.” He patted Jaehwan’s head on his way. Jaehwan’s cheeks burned even hotter. He lifted his head, looking up to see the older man walking up the stairs, the towel hanging so low on his hips Jaehwan could almost see-

He shook his head out of the ridiculous thought. He should go to bed. 

He definitely didn’t think about how beautiful Wonshik’s skin looked under the dim light while he was brushing his teeth. And he totally wasn’t thinking about how oddly attractive the metal arm looked like on the man’s shoulder. And he absolutely didn’t think about how his skin would feel under Jaehwan’s. Or on top. It didn’t matter. One thing was for certain, that the soldier’s body was nothing like the winter.

..

“Hwanie, could you take Wonshik’s food to his room? The Director of National Security Office is on the line,” Hakyeon whispered while covering the bottom of the phone that was held against his ear.

It had been about a day and a half since the winter soldier had come to the base. The same routine would go every time. He would arrive either exhausted to the bones (and metal?) or severely injured. If he wasn’t injured he would basically pass out for two to five days and then wake and leave; during that time Hakyeon would bring simple food for him and he’d wake up enough to eat a bit then pass out again. And if he was injured he’d stay until he could walk and not until he was fully recovered, and then disappear again for god knows how long.

“Uh… sure,” Jaehwan replied, putting his phone back in his pocket as he got up. There was a plate ready on the counter. A glass of water, an energy drink and 5 protein bars. It was Hongbin’s or Sanghyuk’s doing probably - Hakyeon usually cooked something for him but he had been really busy since that morning and didn’t find the time.

Jaehwan grabbed the plate and made his way upstairs towards the man’s room. The door was closed and he was most definitely asleep so there was no point in knocking. He opened the door as carefully as he could, trying to make as little sound as possible.

The bed was unmade and empty in the middle of the room. Jaehwan put the plate on the drawer and looked around.  _ He couldn’t have left right? Maybe he was in the toilet. He had to use the toilet right?  _ he thought as he made his way around the bed and found the man curled up on the ground at the foot of the bed. His arms were wrapped around himself in a protective way and his legs bent towards his chest, wearing only a pair of sweatpants. Jaehwan almost gasped in surprise. 

The man was sleeping on the hard ground when there was a huge bed with the softest sheets and mattress right there. 

Jaehwan had never seen Wonshik’s sleeping face, at least not when it wasn’t bloody and bruised all over. He could only see his side profile. His nose was slightly crooked due to being broken about a hundred times over the years of him fighting, and his tan skin looked oddly clear and almost glowing, probably because of the serum. His droopy lids layed unmoving and his dark lashes shadowed his cheeks. His small mouth formed an ‘O’ shape while he was sleeping, his lips dry and chapped. Suddenly Jaehwan realized he was kneeling beside the man, dangerously close and staring at him like a creep. 

The breath got trapped in Jaehwan’s lungs as he was tackled to the ground by the older. The metal hand was gripping his neck tightly and knees around his hips holding him down. He didn't even find the time to scream.

The grip on his neck was so tight he could barely breathe. He gripped at the arm around his neck with both hands, trying to pull it off, but there was no use. 

“H...hyung,” he tried to call but all that came out was a squeaky, breathy sound. He looked up at the man above him and he wasn’t there, at least mentally. The eyes were dark and empty. He wasn’t completely conscious. Jaehwan’s legs started to struggle as he was going out of breath. His eyes started to see black and rolled back.

_ This is it. This is how I die. _

“Woh...nh...shi…” he tried with his last bit of air and was about to completely blackout when the pressure was suddenly gone and the sound of furniture moving on the wooden floor was heard. He gasped for air, reaching for his own neck as he swallowed the air back into his lungs. He sat up quickly to find the other sitting in front of him with his back pressed to the bed looking… terrified?

Jaehwan quickly crawled towards him. “Hyung? Are you okay? Talk to me,” Jaehwan spoke but didn’t reach out to touch him.

“I’m..m so sorry, Jaehwan,” Wonshik stuttered without meeting Jaehwan’s eyes. He held his head between his hands and pulled his knees up to his chest and his face had gone pale. Jaehwan quickly got up and grabbed the glass of water and ran back.

“Here, drink this,” Jaehwan held the glass in front of him. Wonshik lifted his hands to take it but his hands were shaking too much so Jaehwan held the glass while he drank. 

Jaehwan put the glass on the nightstand carefully and sat on his knees in front of the older. Wonshik’s eyes went to Jaehwan’s neck. “Your neck… I’m...”

Jaehwan shook his head, his hands flying up to rub and cover his neck. It was nothing really, at least not in the physical sense. “I am… I’m okay, don’t worry.” That might not have been completely true but Wonshik didn’t need to know that.

“I need to go,” Wonshik suddenly said, getting up and pulling a hoodie over his head and grabbing his duffle bag from the corner of the room and was out of the door before Jaehwan could say something. Jaehwan thought he heard him whisper to himself, cursing Hakyeon.

Jaehwan just sat there stunned.

A while later, it could’ve been 3 hours later or it could’ve been 2 minutes, Jaehwan didn’t know, Hakyeon ran into the room out of breath. Jaehwan was still sitting at the foot of the bed in the same position.

“What happened?” He walked up to Jaehwan and kneeled in front of him.

“Oh god….” the captain gasped. Then his voice dropped to a whisper. “It’s my fault…”

..

“Hyung stop, I’m fine,” Jaehwan whined. Hakyeon wouldn’t stop fussing over him since the incident that morning. It had been only a few hours but the bruise on Jaehwan’s neck was starting to bloom into a purple handprint.

“Stop moving for one second you overgrown child!” Hakyeon shouted, trying in vain to rub cream on the bruise.

“Then stop treating me like one you non-aging grandpa!” Jaehwan shouted back.

Sanghyuk came walking into the room with a bag of chips in his hand.

“Why are you fighting again?” he asked and sat on the couch in front of them as if he was about to watch his favorite drama. “Oh?” He leaned closer as he noticed the mark on Jaehwan’s neck with Hakyeon trying to rub on it. “Ahhhh Hwan-ah, didn’t know you were into that stuff,” he chuckled teasingly.

“What?” Jaehwan looked back at him questioningly and caught the older staring at his neck. He covered it with his hands quickly. “It’s not that!” he shrieked and ran upstairs to his room.

This whole thing was a lot and he needed time and space to process it.

He went to bed and pulled his blanket up to his head. As a wise man said: when in doubt, take a nap.

A soft knocking on his door woke him hours later. He didn’t know what time it was or, for a few seconds, what day it was. He rubbed his eyes and pushed the blanket off his face. The cold air hit his face and immediately woke him up. The knock came again.

“What?” he answered with a dry throat. His glass was empty on his nightstand. Damn it.

“It’s just me,” Hongbin called from the other side. Great.

“Tell him I’m fine,” Jaehwan said, rolling his eyes. 

“Hakyeon didn’t send me.” He sounded honest. Not that Lee was the type to lie. “I’m coming in, you better not be jerking off.”

“What the-” Hongbin opened the door and stepped in with one hand covering his eyes and the other holding the handle. 

“Is it safe?”

“I was sleeping, hyung!” Jaehwan barked. The elder peeked through his fingers and saw Jaehwan sitting in the middle of his bed with a thick blanket around him.

“Ah, good.” He sighed and removed his hands off his eyes and closed the door behind him. He sat beside Jaehwan at the edge of the bed.

“When was the last time you changed your sheets?” he asked, sniffing and looking around suspiciously.

“Hyung! What the hell?” Jaehwan knew he was teasing. Hongbin broke into laughter, revealing his twin dimples.

“I’m just messin’ with ya.” He ruffled Jaehwan’s hair. 

It was silent for a few moments. It could’ve been a few minutes. Hongbin combed his fingers through Jaehwan’s messy blonde hair.

“The day I brought you with me to go fight with me in Busan, I promised your aunt that I would take care of you.” He sighed, a sad smile on his regretful face.

“And you have. More than you have to,” Jaehwan said softly, looking down at his hands.

Hongbin shook his head. “But more importantly I promised myself that I would never let anything happen to you.”

“Hyung, that’s not possible and you know that. It’s part of the job-”

“This wasn’t because of a job,” he said, eyes fixed on the angry purple handprint on Jaehwan’s neck. Jaehwan’s hands flew to his neck. There was no point in hiding it though.

“It’s still not your fault, hyung,” Jaehwan argued.

“But it is. I brought you into this. All of this,” he said, taking Jaehwan’s hand off his neck and holding it between both his. “I should’ve been there to- no actually, it’s half Hakyeon’s part.” His tone changed in 0.0002 secs and he stood up and started pacing the room. “He let that  _ maniac _ into this place. This is supposed to be our safe place! This is supposed to be  _ home _ !”

He rubbed his face, taking a deep breath.

“And he fucking asked you to get that crazy cyborg food? Knowing he would attack you if he woke up?” Jaehwan thought Hongbin was here to make sure he was okay but it seemed like he was there to rant.

“How could he know?” Jaehwan tried to reason.

“Oh, he knows alright.”

“What do I know?” Both their heads snapped to the door to see the tall man standing there.

“That your psycho buddy would attack anyone who got close to him like a mad dog!” Hongbin barked.

“Hongbin calm down. It’s not like that.” Hakyeon shook his head.

“Is that true, hyung?” Jaehwan asked in a shaky voice. Both men fell quiet. Hakyeon came closer and was about to sit beside Hongbin on the edge of the bed but Hongbin glaring at him made him change his mind. 

“It’s not something that happens all the time. Sometimes he wakes up not fully there and he attacks whoever that’s closest to him, but most of the time when he’s crashing here he doesn’t wake up when I bring him food,” he explained. It wasn’t clear who he was trying to convince more: Jaehwan or himself. Of course, he felt guilty too. “And this morning I… I was buried under phone calls and paperwork and emails and I wasn’t thinking straight.” He sighed, looking down and not meeting Jaehwan’s eyes. “I shouldn’t have sent you, Hongbin is right. This is my fault.”

“Damn right it is,” Hongbin glared.

“Both of you stop it. It is my own damn fault, okay? I went too close.” 

“You what?” Hongbin gasped.

“I… got curious and got closer to take a look at him.”

“What were you curious about?”

“Just… It’s my fault, okay? I froze and instead of actually doing something I struggled like a helpless little kid.” He couldn’t lie to himself anymore. He didn’t see it coming and he was so caught off guard that he couldn’t do anything and it almost cost him his life. In all the few years of him joining the Avengers, he had barely fought alone. There were always others that had his back and protected him. He needed to change that. He needed to be able to fight on his own.

The other two looked at him then each other. He was never gonna hear the end of this.

..

3 weeks passed with no word from the mysterious man. Hakyeon had been trying to reach him for weeks and he had gone completely off the grid.

A month passed. Nothing. Here and there they would find signs of him being all around the world but no way to reach him.

“He will run out of shit soon, he’ll come around,” Hongbin said bitterly. He was happy about the man’s long absence and was doing nothing to hide it.

“God, Hongbin, could you stop being a dick for five goddamn seconds?” Hakyeon shouted angrily.

“What do you expect me to do? He almost killed-” His breath hitched and he closed his eyes, then opened them staring at the older with a cutting glare. “He almost killed Jaehwan. _ Our _ Jaehwan.”

“I’m right here,” Jaehwan said, looking between the two of them. He couldn’t even have breakfast in peace in the house.

Hakyeon took a deep breath. “But he didn’t! Stop treating him like a bad guy, Bin. He just needs help.”

“He’s said time and time again that he doesn’t want help.”

“Well, what do you want me to do?”

“Start treating him like the threat he is!” Hongbin raised his voice.

“He’s my friend!” Hakyeon shouted. The kitchen windows shook. “Jesus Christ…. He’s my oldest and best friend.” 

…

Jaehwan was woken up. The digital clock on his nightstand showed 4:02 am. Why was he awake? He blinked his eyes a few times; he didn’t know what woke him up. Maybe it was a dream he couldn’t remember. He tossed around in his bed, trying to fall back asleep. He usually had no problem falling asleep but for some reason, his eyes refused to stay closed. After about 20 minutes he gave up. Might as well get some water while he was awake.

He grabbed his glass from the nightstand and stepped to the ground, the fluffy carpet tickling his feet. You know when you feel something bad is going to happen deep in your gut but you can’t explain it? That’s how Jaehwan felt. He ignored the feeling and started walking down the stairs. He’d shoot a web and jump down but he wasn’t allowed to shoot them in the house anymore. 

Something grabbed his foot and as if on cue the hallway automatic light turned on.

Jaehwan shrieked and dropped the glass but managed to grab it with a web just in time before it hit the sharp stairs. He looked down at his leg to find bloody fingers wrapped around his ankle. He almost screamed again before he realized who the bloody hand belonged to.

Wonshik.

He was almost unrecognizable. The stubble and the long hair aside, his face was completely smashed as if someone was trying to rearrange his whole face. His human hand was bruised and bloody, probably broken in multiple places. And blood. Lots of blood.

There was a deep looking stab wound right below his right ribs and blood was flowing out.

“Oh my god Wonshik! What the hell happened to you?!” Jaehwan gasped, immediately sitting down beside the man. He shot small webs onto the wound on the ribs like a small bandage and started pressing on it. The man just groaned low; he seemed like he would pass out any second.

Did the man think he could make it upstairs in that stage? How did he even make it alive to the base?

“What’s going on?” came the sleepy voice of Hakyeon from above the stairs before he noticed the two other. “Wonshik?” He was down beside them in a blink, looking over his friend in shock. He seemed like he wanted to touch him but he was afraid. “What the hell happened?”

“We don’t have time, Yeon! Do something! We’re losing him!” That seemed to shake Hakyeon out of his shock. He tapped on his smartwatch and then grabbed Wonshik’s metal arm and threw it around his own shoulder. The arm seemed to need serious repairs. 

“Help me get him to the infirmary, help is on the way.” Jaehwan nodded quickly and held the man’s other side without lowering the pressure on the wound. And he was damn heavy.

The infirmary was close to the front door. Hakyeon had had it built because they usually needed a place to take care of their injuries after major fights. It was well equipped and ready. Hakyeon had obviously contacted their special medics. They were some of the few trusted people left after the falling of Shield.

Wonshik cried in pain when he was moved to stand. 

“Sorry, we’re almost there buddy, hold on,” Hakyeon said, trying to form a reassuring smile. Jaehwan could see how his eyes were starting to water.

They laid Wonshik down as carefully as possible. Hakyeon grabbed some sterile gauze to hold the stab wound with.

“Breathe for me...yes. Your lung isn’t punctured, thank god,” Hakyeon sighed. Wonshik cried louder. “Jaehwan, get me some morphine.”

“What the hell is all the noise for!” came Hongbin’s furious voice.

“Shut up and come help me!” Hakyeon shouted in annoyance. It was clear that he was scared, scared of losing his best friend, even though the man had changed so much and barely any part of him was left as Hakyeon knew him.

Hongbin walked closer to find the metal-armed man on the table. “What the hell happened to him?”

“We don’t know, I found him like this,” Jaehwan answered.

“Can you check his pupils? The cut on his head is worrying me,” Hakyeon asked desperately. He was praying to every god that was listening that Wonshik wouldn’t have a concussion.

They heard the sound of a car. The medics were here.

..

Jaehwan was aimlessly scrolling through his Instagram feed when a frantic beeping sound started. It was coming from the infirmary. He threw his phone aside and was about to run there, but a strong hand held him back by his wrist.

“You stay here,” Hongbin said firmly.

“But-” 

“Jaehwan, stay!” he ordered.

“Hey! I’m not a dog!” Jaehwan shouted.

“Alert Hakyeon!” Hongbin said before activating his suit and going inside the infirmary. He had become sort of paranoid ever since that incident. Hakyeon had to fight him to stop him from cuffing Wonshik to the bed. Maybe he had a point. There were breaking sounds coming from the room across the hall. Jaehwan sent an alert to Hakyeon who was in an important meeting. It shouldn’t take long. When it came to Wonshik, nothing else mattered to him. Jaehwan always wondered how it must be to know someone for that long. He never had any close friends. He was a pretty social person at school, even before all this spider bullshit happened to him, and he had a ton of friends, but nothing too serious. Like it was all just in the moment. High school ended and everyone kinda went their own way. Some went to college, some went to family business, some even got married. And then there was Jaehwan, living that superhero life.

It wasn’t all that exciting if he was being 100% honest. It’s not like they were saving the world every day. Mostly it was just hanging out with the weirdos he lived with.

Taekwoon was not very sociable and he took a lot of personal jobs, spying mostly. And he was good at it. There was almost always work for him somewhere so they didn’t see him all that often. Sanghyuk was at his lab in the basement most of the time doing weird experiments. No one ever asked, it was better that way. Hakyeon was also fairly busy. Since he was mostly the face of Avengers he had to do most of the boring work. Paperwork. Interviews. Reports. Meetings. Yikes.

That left Jaehwan with Hongbin most of the time. The man was a genius but he could be a bit too much sometimes; even though he spent significant time in his workshop making new gadgets and inventing stuff, he still had enough time to be an ass almost all day.

“Is he up?” Hakyeon came running inside. That took about 3 minutes.

“I think-” Hakyeon was inside the infirmary before Jaehwan got to finish his sentence. 

_ Oh fuck it _ . Jaehwan thought and followed him inside the room. 

“Easy tiger,” Hongbin whispered in Wonshik’s ear while holding him by the neck using his arm. Wonshik was out. His consciousness was out.

It was like the side of him that was brainwashed and trained to kill was woken up thirsty for a kill. For an order.

The man kept struggling, pushing Hongbin back until his back was against the wall. 

“Wonshik, hey, it’s me,” Hakyeon said as calmly as he could, taking careful steps toward the wild man. The white T-shirt they had put him in was starting to soak in blood. He must have torn his stitches. “Hey buddy.”

Hakyeon stood right in front of him, lifting his arms up carefully, holding them near his friend’s face. It was like where you’re trying to tame a wild animal. Hongbin had not loosened his grip but Wonshik stopped struggling to get free. He was probably recognizing Hakyeon. Hopefully.

Hakyeon got closer and closer and he was almost touching him; then the man smashed his face with his forehead. Hakyeon flew backwards a few steps, blood running down his nose.

“Hakyeon!” Jaehwan gasped. He was standing near the door. As much as he assured everyone that he was fine, he still had nightmares about that morning. The handprint took weeks to fully fade but he swore he could still feel it tingle sometimes. And the icy look in Wonshik’s eyes and the emptiness haunted him, so he didn’t get too close.

Said man’s head snapped towards him the second Jaehwan’s voice was heard. Something snapped in Wonshik; the fog in his eyes cleared and he blinked, looking around in confusion.

“What am I doing here- uugh...” He asked but then groaned in pain, hand flying to his ribs.

“Bin, let him go,” Hakyeon said, running back towards the two. Hongbin didn’t move. “I said let go, damn it!” Hakyeon shouted, pulling Hongbin’s arm from Wonshik’s neck. Jaehwan found himself beside them all of a sudden. 

Wonshik was about to fall on his knees as soon as the arm around him came off but both Jaehwan and Hakyeon got him before he fell. They gave each other a look over him and carefully carried him back to the bed.

He cried in pain as soon as his body came in contact with the bed. Jaehwan couldn’t even imagine how much pain he must be in. Then he started coughing. Jaehwan instinctively ran to the table where they left water for him in case he woke up, but found the glass broken.

“I’ll get water,” he announced and ran out to the kitchen and came back in a blink. Wonshik accepted the glass, his eyes full of shame and regret when they barely met Jaehwan’s.

“What am I doing here?” he asked after chugging down the glass of water.

“Don’t you remember?” Hakyeon asked as he opened a top cabinet to get fresh stitches to restitch his stab wound. 

“I wouldn’t have asked if I did,” he replied dryly.

“Well, how much do you remember?” Hongbin asked from across the room, arms crossed over his chest.

“I remember neutralizing the threat sufficiently,” he said, giving Hongbin a sharp look.

“What threat?” Hakyeon asked as he sat down on the bed and started cutting Wonshik’s shirt. It was ruined anyway.

“Just a group of thugs with the technology they shouldn’t possess.” Another sharp look was thrown towards Hongbin while he was completely unbothered with Hakyeon stitching him up.

“I don’t control the black market.” Hongbin rolled his eyes. He knew what Wonshik meant. He was talking about the weapons Lee Industries used to make.

“You should. Take responsibility for the shit you put out in the world.”

“Oh, like how you walked around the world spreading peace and rainbows for decades?”

“Stop it both of you!” Hakyeon said firmly, leaving no room to argue. “Hongbin, take a walk.”

Hongbin walked out of the room without sparing them another glance.

“Hwanie, could you bring me some bandages and tape?” Hakyeon asked, letting out a breath he was holding. Hongbin would give Hakyeon a stroke one of these days.

Jaehwan nodded and went to get the tape and bandages from the cabinet across the room. He felt eyes on him the whole time but when he turned back Wonshik’s eyes were closed and Hakyeon was finishing up the stitches. He gave Hakyeon the stuff but didn’t move away. 

Wonshik’s eyes were still closed and his whole body was tense. Well, tenser since Jaehwan came closer. He was almost wincing.

Hakyeon was mostly done. “Can you give us a moment alone please?” Jaehwan asked quietly, almost shy.

Hakyeon didn’t answer for a few seconds, weighing his options. “Are you sure?”

“Of course.” Jaehwan nodded and gave him a reassuring little smile. He needed to speak with Wonshik alone.

Hakyeon got up and tapped Jaehwan’s shoulder. “I’ll be right outside,” Wonshik finally opened his eyes and watched Hakyeon with pleading eyes, silently asking him to not leave.

Hakyeon gave them one last look before closing the door behind him.

There was silence with only the AC humming quietly. Jaehwan sighed and sat on the spot Hakyeon was sitting a moment ago. A few minutes passed without either of them talking. It could have been just a few seconds but the clock seemed to be going so slow.

Wonshik eventually turned his face over to Jaehwan but didn’t meet his eyes.

“I’m not going to apologize because that’s as good as shit,” Wonshik said, voice deep and hoarse. Jaehwan opened his mouth to speak but Wonshik held his metal arm up.

“I almost killed you. Nothing can make up for that. So I’m gonna do the only thing I can and that is to disappear and not come back here. So please, don’t look for me when I’m gone.”

“That’s not true,” Jaehwan spoke confidently. He knew if he wanted to get through to him he had to be firm and confident.

“What?”

“There is something you can do.”

“And what is that?”

“Save my life.” Wonshik’s eyes darted up, finally looking at Jaehwan in the eyes with pure shock.

“Are you in danger? Is anyone looking for you?” Wonshik asked, pushing up on his forearm, trying to sit up. He looked ready to fight someone and that was almost? Adorable?

“No, lay back down.” Jaehwan shook his head, fighting a smile, and with a gentle hand on Wonshik’s chest he pushed him back down.

“Then what?”

“You almost killed me. But what did I do? I’m supposed to be an Avenger, I should be able to fight my way out, but I froze. Defenseless.” Jaehwan breathed out. That moment still made his blood run cold whenever he thought about it. Wonshik looked away again, eyes filled with guilt and regret.

“I’m not gonna lie and tell you that I’m okay and that didn’t affect me, but the truth is it could have been anyone else who wanted to kill me and the only difference is that I would’ve been dead right now. I know you didn’t mean to hurt me and that it’s the things Hydra did to you. But if I were alone with someone who actually wanted to kill me, I’d be screwed.”

“What’s your point?”

“My point is that I want you to train me.”

..

“I don’t think I heard you right, Jae. You asked him to what?” Hongbin blinked in shock.

“To train me,” Jaehwan replied, rolling his eyes. He knew Hongbin wasn’t going to like it.

“Are you fucking mad? Have you gone completely insane? Are you out of your goddamn mind? Are you absolutely-” 

“Stop, Jesus!” Jaehwan shouted. If he didn’t Hongbin would have gone on forever.

“You could have asked anyone! Anyone of us! Or any goddamn teacher in the world you wanted but you just went and asked the psycho cyborg.” Hongbin threw his hands out in anger and probably betrayal.

“If you guys wanted to do that you would have all these years but you’d rather baby me and protect me in fights instead of teaching me how to fight myself.” And it was true. Hongbin had made him the suit that did most of the work for him and after the fights, Jaehwan was always the least injured out of all of them because they always made a circle around him and made sure he didn’t need to fight unless he absolutely had to and that wasn’t fair. They were not doing him any favors.

“You could’ve asked Hakyeon, he’s as good as the psycho minus being actually psycho. Or Taekwoon, he’s the sneakiest son of a bitch who can fight his way out of anything!” Hongbin argued. He was not seeing the point.

“You don’t get it! You are all too soft on me.” Jaehwan finally said it. Hongbin went quiet. He was a stubborn bastard but he was a smart one. And there was no way he could deny that Jaehwan was right. But that didn’t mean he was going to openly admit it. Nothing could change the fact that he was unhappy about Wonshik training Jaehwan. Jaehwan knew where he was coming from but it had to be done. And for once, Jaehwan was going to do things his own way.

“So you just asked him to train you and he accepted just like that?”

“Yes. we will start as soon as he heals enough.” Jaehwan smiled smugly. He felt like a teenager who got his way with his strict parents. “Oh, by the way, you need to fix his metal arm. It was damaged during the fight.”

“I am doing no such thing.”

“Stop being a jerk, the harm was done with your weapons and he’s Hakyeon’s friend. If you won’t do it for him, do it for Hakyeon.”

..

About two weeks later, no, 11 days later, Jaehwan was standing in front of the soldier in the yard. Jaehwan initially thought it would take the man weeks or even months to heal completely considering his state, but Wonshik had the serum in him. A more advanced one than the one Hakyeon had gotten. He healed even faster than Hakyeon. Now it kind of made sense how the man was still alive.

Jaehwan was wearing his suit. The battle suit.

He wasn’t self-conscious about his body, far from it actually but the way the older was looking at him from across the field…

“Why are you in your spidey onesie?” the man asked with a completely straight face. It would have been funny if Jaehwan wasn’t now embarrassed to death. 

“Uh… aren’t we fighting? I thought-”

“We are.” Wonshik said with a hint of a smirk forming at the corner of his small mouth. “Actually, it’s good that you’re geared up.” He pointed at a spot about a few steps away from him. Jaehwan walked closer and stood on the spot. He felt naked in front of the older, the fabric of his suit sitting uncomfortably on his skin, something that had never happened before.

“Now fight me,” the man said without making any move himself. It sounded like a trap.

“Uh…”

“I’ll make it even easier,” Wonshik took a deep breath, brought his metal arm that had been fixed by Hongbin up, and then moved it behind his back.

“Wait, you’re gonna do this with one hand?” Jaehwan asked, looking at Wonshik with wide eyes. Wonshik just pointed two fingers at him and gestured to him to come closer.

This shouldn’t be too hard right? The man was dying just a week ago and just with one hand while Jaehwan was in his full equipped suit? Should be a piece of cake.

Jaehwan figured he should take advantage while he’s wearing the suit so the first thing he did before running towards the soldier was to shoot some webs at him. He didn’t expect them to actually hit the man, he mostly wanted to distract him.

Wonshik dodged the webs without even losing his footing and then just as Jaehwan reached him and was about to jump on his head the older crouched; using his hand he pushed Jaehwan back and shot him away a few feet. Jaehwan landed on the grass with a choked groan.

It was in fact, not a piece of cake to take down the winter soldier.

The man literally didn’t even move a leg.

They had a long way to go.

..

“I can’t believe I was this terrible and no one told me,” Jaehwan panted, rubbing the sweat off his forehead before it ran into his eyes again. He was laying on the ground after Wonshik handed him his ass about 50 times in the span of 2 hours. That had to be a record, for Jaehwan of course. And the other had barely broken a sweat. He looked like he could go on like that forever.

“You’re not terrible,” Wonshik said, tone oddly tender considering he was kicking Jaehwan’s ass like 5 seconds ago. “You’re inexperienced. They thought they’re protecting you by shielding you.” He shook his head disappointedly, taking a sip from the flask he had brought then offering it to Jaehwan. Jaehwan took it gratefully and chugged a huge gulp of the liquid and almost spat it all out. It was not water. Of course it wasn’t water….

Jaehwan swallowed the bitter drink. Everything was burning, he thought his eyes were going to melt. For the second time in his life, Jaehwan saw the soldier laugh. He was laying on the grass holding his stomach laughing like there was no tomorrow.

It made Jaehwan forget the burn in his throat and the bitter taste in his mouth.

“God…. How old even are you? You’re not like 16 right?” Wonshik asked between laughs.

Jaehwan glared at him for a few seconds. “I’m 24! You’re just old.”

“Hey! Don’t you know you should respect the elders?” Wonshik shouted while laughing, scrambling over to Jaehwan.

“Okay grandpa, ah- !” Jaehwan shrieked trying to run away from the older’s grabby hands. 

..

Five weeks later and there was no spot left on Jaehwan’s skin that wasn’t bruised; after the third week he was pretty much numb and couldn't really feel the hits as much. If Wonshik’s plan was to improve his pain tolerance it was definitely working. He could fight through the pain for much longer than the first week where he would be down under 5 minutes at best, trying to breathe as his vision went dark from the blow to his head. That is not to say he was winning.

Jaehwan didn’t think he could ever beat Wonshik. Stronger than him have tried and obviously failed. He set his bar logically. If he could keep up with the winter soldier for 1 hour he’d call it a win. Surely Wonshik wasn’t expecting Jaehwan to beat him…?

These were the thoughts running through Jaehwan’s head as he dragged his beaten body to his room, talking himself out of showering and face planting on the bed. The last thing on his mind before his lids became too heavy and he drifted was Wonshik's face after each round, trying to analyze his (lack of) reaction. Was he disappointed? Was he pleased? Was he bored? Was he worried…

Three more weeks and it felt like Jaehwan’s skin generated an extra layer of protection because he wasn’t getting bruised as much (make no mistake he was still getting his ass handed to him) and it felt like every day he was able to stay on his feet a little longer and fight back a little harder. He was starting to realize that maybe that was the whole point. Something that Jaehwan was always curious about was how Taekwoon was able to fight alongside the rest of them. While madly skilled, he didn’t have any superpowers or DNA enhancement. What he had, according to the legends, was years and years of extreme training from a young age. His body has probably enhanced itself to survive.

Another notable change was that Jaehwan was seriously buffing up. Like, seriously. Not that he was out of shape before - the spider bite had taken care of that for him for the most part. He already had abs and subtle hard muscles but all the hardcore training for two months straight was doing wonders for his body. When they shed their shirts after them getting completely soaked during training he felt slightly less shy. Wonshik was still years ahead of him and Jaehwan still got chills every time he saw the man’s carved torso.

The notice came while Wonshik and he had just started their training for the day, at 6:30. It was a hostage situation on an oil rig in the middle of the ocean. It was Hydra. Surprise, surprise. Everyone ran to gear up and were to meet in the jet but as Jaehwan ran to the elevator he saw Wonshik casually picking up last night’s dinner plates from around the living room, seemingly having no plans on joining them on the mission.

“Wonshik! What are you doing? Come on!” he shouted, barely missing the table he was about to run into.

“I’m not going.”

“What? Why? You can’t-” He got cut off by Hakyeon appearing out of nowhere and dragging him into the elevator without a word. Jaehwan caught him nodding at Wonshik right before the elevator door shut. To say Jaehwan was confused was an understatement and maybe deep down he was a little disappointed because this was their first real mission after he had started training with Wonshik and he was looking forward to fighting alongside the man. Maybe get him to see how much he’s improved (hopefully).

Hakyeon sighed, looking at him affectionately, knowing he must want to know why one of their strongest isn’t joining them.

“We’re going up against Hydra,” Hakyeon stated as if Jaehwan didn’t already know.

“So?”

“Jaehwan, please. It’s for the best and he brought it up himself.”

“What are you talking about-”

“They could get into his head Jae! Have you forgotten?” Jaehwan could see how much it pained Hakyeon to say that. Knowing your best friend has gone through all that and not being able to help them must be really hard. “He said he won't be joining in any missions while he’s training you. He doesn’t want to risk it and neither do I.”

“Okay,” was all Jaehwan could stomach saying. He felt sick knowing the fear Wonshik lives with and that now he’s added to the weight on his shoulder but there was nothing he could say or do. He silently followed Hakyeon into the jet.

..

The mission was successful even without the winter soldier. They managed to secure the area, kill, or arrest every Hydra agent on the rig and miraculously leave no casualties. One guy was seriously injured but hopefully he would recover. Though if Taekwoon hadn’t neutralized the bomb at the very last second they’d all been very dead right now, enhanced DNA or not. Well, maybe Sanghyuk… Either way, Jaehwan was mostly happy. 

By the time they got back to the base it was afternoon. All of them were exhausted and injured to some degree. What none of them was expecting was a set dinner table with a shit ton of food on it.

“Oh my god, I’m starving!” Sanghyuk didn’t even question it and jumped right in. 

Taekwoon and Hongbin shrugged and dropped their stuff and joined him. Hakyeon shook his head with an easy smile.

“At least wash your hands first… children.”

It had to be Wonshik. The food. But he was nowhere to be found. So with a not-so-subtle frown and a pout Jaehwan went upstairs, changed, and cleaned himself up before joining the others at the table. Hopefully Sanghyuk didn’t finish everything. He was Hulk after all.

Jaehwan couldn’t stop thinking about Wonshik the entire time they were eating but no one else seemed to even remember he existed, let alone provided them the food. He couldn’t shake the guilt knowing how much Wonshik wants to face Hydra and wipe them all away but he can’t because he doesn’t want to risk hurting Jaehwan.

There was just one place the winter soldier could be if he wasn’t in his room, and that was the gym, probably punching a hole into a poor punching bag - or anything else he felt like punching a hole into for that matter. And he was, already into his 8th punching bag. (They had a whole storage of punching bags because between Wonshik and Hakyeon and Sanghyuk they teared dozens of them daily. Hongbin needed to make something more sustainable for God’s sake. This isn’t doing any good for the environment and they’re the fucking Avengers!)

Jaehwan just stood at the entrance, watching the older hit the bag with bare hands, barely breaking a sweat. Wonshik saw him through the mirror, only paused for half a second before he looked away and continued punching.

A few minutes passed. Jaehwan knew he should either say something, or leave. Or both in that order but he couldn't tear his eyes away from Wonshik’s back (and other angles. All the walls were covered in mirrors) and didn’t really know what to say.

“Did you need something?” Wonshik asked, barely panting, a hand on the punching bag.

“I… no. Just wanted to… thank you I guess.” 

“What for?” 

“The food.”

Wonshik looked at him for a few seconds, unmoving apart from his blinking lids before he said, “I didn’t make them.”

_ Obviously.  _ Jaehwan mentally slapped himself. “I know...but still, thank you.”

“You’re welcome,” Wonshik replied with a soft smile that looked a lot like Hakyeon’ss. Gentle and affectionate. He had never seen Wonshik do it and that made him feel warm inside. Warm and tingly.

Now was the time to leave. He had no more reason to stay and stare at Wonshik so he turned around to run up the stairs but Wonshik called him.

“Jaehwan.” He sounded almost hesitant.

The younger turned around so fast he almost gave himself whiplash. “Yeah?” 

“Are you hurt?” Wonshik asked, looking Jaehwan right in the eyes as if he was asking about the weather.

“Uh… no? Nothing’s broken or needs stitches. Just some plain old bruises,” Jaehwan answered with a nervous chuckle, trying to lighten the weird mood.

“Does your suit collect the data?”

“Of the hits I take? I don’t think so. Why?”

“You should ask Lee to program it so it does so you can analyze your weak and blind spots later.” He looked like he was this close to rolling his eyes at the fact that they hadn’t thought of that before. He had a point. The suit could analyze the enemies fighting techniques already, why shouldn’t it analyze his own too?

“I’ll… talk to him about it. Thanks for the tip.” Just as he was about to leave, Jaehwan was stopped again.

“Take off your clothes.” The words came out of Wonshik’s mouth so sternly that it made Jaehwan’s knees shake for a second. His brain hadn’t even registered the meaning behind the words yet. 

“Pardon?” Jaehwan asked, dazed and genuinely confused.

“Take off your clothes so I can see where you got hit.”

_ Oh…. right.  _ Well, there was no arguing with that. Jaehwan nodded quickly, grabbing the back of his shirt’s collar and pulling it over his head with ease. That was easy, they had done that a thousand times. Then he untied his sweatpants’ ties, willing his fingers not to shake because  _ dammit Jaehwan get it together _ . They fell onto the floor with a soft thud, a shiver went down the younger’s spine as the cold air hit his bare thighs. He stepped out of them quietly, standing half naked in front of Wonshik who was watching, his face unblinking. He fought not to fist his hands and left them hanging relaxed on his sides but it was proved to be not that easy when Wonshik started really scanning his body, walking in circles around him.

Jaehwan was so focused on trying to keep his breathing even that he didn’t realize he had closed his eyes.

“May I?” Jaehwan’s eyes snapped open. The tone of the question was miles away from the previous one. Not that the other one was a question anyway. This time Wonshik sounded so gentle and maybe Jaehwan was projecting but there was maybe a hint of worry in there? Somewhere?

When Jaehwan opened his eyes Wonshik was standing on his right, his metal arm held inches away from Jaehwan’s forearm. He was asking permission to touch. Jaehwan nodded quickly.

Wonshik grabbed his arm, oh so gently, lifting it up to reveal the dark bruises on the side of Jaehwan’s ribs. It hurt to lift his arm a little but Wonshik didn’t lift it high, like he knew just how far to go.

“You’re still blind on your right defence,” he noted but he didn’t sound scolding or angry. He lowered the arm and continued his circle. This time he grabbed Jaehwan’s left wrist, turning it so the inside of his arm was facing up, showing multiple cuts. His eyes mapped each and every cut and bruise, his fingers following close by. “This one was me,” he said as his finger lightly grazed over the half healed bruise on the younger’s bicep. His hands trailed up on Jaehwan’s shoulder as he walked behind him. Jaehwan knew he had taken a considerable hit on his back. Careful not to touch it, Wonshik dragged his fingers down before they left Jaehwan’s skin and he already missed them.

“Maybe try not to stop blows with your back next time if you care to walk again,” the older said teasingly, walking back in front of the younger, fingers moving in a feather touch along with him before they stopped on the subtle curve of Jaehwan’s waist, right above a blooming hand mark on his hip bone. Jaehwan couldn’t even remember how he got this one. 

Wonshik’s face was unreadable as he looked up to Jaehwan and then back to the bruise. Jaehwan bit his lips, resisting the urge to squeeze his eyes shut. Wonshik was so  _ close _ . And his hand on Jaehwan’s side that was now moving up.  _ Fuck.  _

“That was me,” the older pointed as he rubbed his thumb over the vertical contusion just below Jaehwan’s ribs. Being blocked by a metal forearm does that to you. 

A sharp flash of pain coursed through his body from the press of Wonshik’s thumb on the bruise and Jaehwan’s body, the traitor, directed it straight to his dick. The sound that left Jaehwan’s mouth was a mix of a gasp and groan and all the blond could hope for was that with all the bruises on his body Wonshik couldn’t see him blush all over.

Wonshik for his part looked apologetic, which was new.

Jaehwan thought the worst (best?) part was over but this time the older man lowered his body and crouched down to examine the hits on Jaehwan’s legs and  _ fuck _ Jaehwan needed to close his eyes.

Thank god Wonshik didn’t touch his legs because Jaehwan was pretty sure he was too exhausted to be held accountable for his dick’s potential misbehavior. His legs were probably Jaehwan’s strongest features so they were mostly unharmed, so the examination on them didn’t take long.

Wonshik stood back up now face to face, too close and slightly hovering above Jaehwan, heat radiating from his body like the human space heater he apparently was. His breath hit Jaehwan’s face with every deep exhale, eyes darkening as he looked down on Jaehwan. No one could blame Jaehwan when his eyes darted between Wonshik’s parted lips and his dark hooded eyes. 

The older wasn’t doing any better since Jaehwan caught him licking his lips wet as his eyes darted down to Jaehwan’s swollen ones. There was a cut already healing on Jaehwan’s lips but fuck he didn’t mind it if Wonshik kissed him rough and pulled at his bruised lips, maybe even drawing some blood...

“Alright, I’ll note these for our next session starting Saturday,” Wonshik said after clearing his throat like… nothing.

That was the day after tomorrow. Jaehwan blinked in confusion for a few seconds.

“But… What about tomorrow?” Jaehwan distantly thought if Wonshik has plans or something, which he never does… but he’s never given Jaehwan a day off.

“You should rest, kid. Now go to bed,” he said before walking back to his punching bag without looking at the blond. 

Jaehwan put his clothes back on in record time and said goodnight shyly before walking out of the gym. Wonshik was already back on his boxing when Jaehwan got dressed and left.

“Goodnight, kid,” he replied quietly well after Jaehwan was gone.

..

The next day no one saw Wonshik the whole day; the only proof of him even being in the house at some point was the dirty coffee mug in the sink that wasn’t there last night when Hakyeon cleared it from all the dishes and the fresh coffee in the coffee machine. Everyone just assumed he was in the gym.

“He’s not,” Hongbin said, shaking his ridiculous looking phone so the screen appeared 10 times bigger on air. It was every camera around the base including the gym and the winter soldier wasn’t there, or anywhere else for that matter. But hold on, the gym had a camera? Fuck, hopefully no one was watching because it did not look good out of context. Jaehwan wondered if there were also mics. “He left at 4:12 am. Is that a bow?” He zoomed on the recorded video from earlier and yeah, apparently Wonshik left wearing black head to toe with a bow and probably other weapons that were hidden from the naked eye.

“He probably went hunting in the woods, knowing him,” Hakyeon shrugged, trying to look as collected as possible.

“Hunting what?” Jaehwan asked; somehow the idea of Wonshik hunting with a bow made him feel some sort of way. He couldn’t label it yet.

“A bear maybe?” Sanghyuk said with his mouth full. He was eating coco pops cereals like the child he was.

“Or a tiger…” Taekwoon said with a smirk, leaning back against the counter looking way too flawless and it wasn’t even 8 yet.

“Let’s bet!” Hongbin suggested with a devilish grin on his face, both dimples showing. 

“How would we even know? Do you think he’s gonna come back with a dead animal on his back or something?” Jaehwan threw his hands up for emphasis.

“We could ask him,” Sanghyuk said like he has never met the guy.

“And he’d punch a hole in your face. Best case he’d ignore you,” Taekwoon rolled his eyes at Sanghyuk.

“I could run DNA off the bow or his clothes…” Hongbin said like it was the most normal thing.

“Okay, that’s enough. You guys clearly don’t know him and I won't be a part of this… whatever this is.” Hakyeon shook his head, unimpressed and disappointed, and left the room. 

The room went quiet for 10 seconds.

“Falcon,” Jaehwan blurted with no further explanation.

“I don’t think there are falcons around here…”

“There are actually,” Hongbin confirmed, looking at his tablet, pulling up a digital map of the area with some red dots on it, supposedly showing falcon habitats. Was there anything he couldn’t access? 

“What’s your bet, smart guy?” Taekwoon arched a brow, looking sideways at Hongbin.

“Deer. A classic.”

..

No one saw Wonshik come home that night, but he was up and ready in the gym where they usually met to warm up. Jaehwan only thought about asking him about the other day for 3 seconds before Wonshik gave him so much to do that by the time they took a break hours later Jaehwan could barely remember his own name.

“How are your battle wounds?” Wonshik asked in his usual serious tone but Jaehwan couldn’t help but wonder if he was being sarcastic.

“Mostly healed, thanks for the day off.” Jaehwan chuckled before grabbing another bottle of water and chugging it to the last drop.

“Hope you enjoyed it because you’re not getting another one after I wipe the floor with you today.” The corner of Wonshik’s lips tugged into a smirk. _ Fuck. _

And wipe the floor with Jaehwan he did.

Jaehwan dragged himself to the bathroom sometimes after dusk, filling the tub with hot water, hoping the heat and the water would help sooth his aching muscles a bit.

Only after the water had gotten cold he finally drained the tub and stepped out, finally getting a good look of his body since his shower in the morning. He wasn’t kidding when he told Wonshik most of his bruises and wounds had healed already. None of them were that deep and Jaehwan had fast healing and it seemed like it had gotten even faster recently. His body was pretty much clear of any bruises.

But there were fresh colorful bruises everywhere now. Places Jaehwan blushed thinking about.

Thinking back, they trained slightly differently today. Jaehwan couldn’t think about it in the moment since he could barely catch his breath with Wonshik attacking from every angle but… somehow it felt like they were fighting more closely, which seemed stupid considering they had been doing close combat this whole time. 

There was a dark pink bruise on his upper left thigh, dangerously close to his goin, a hand print similar to the one from the other day but on the opposite side. And the last noteworthy bruise was the pale pink handprint around Jaewhan’s neck. He touched the tender skin lightly with his fingers, remembering Wonshik’s dark eyes burning into his when he had his human hand around his neck, his back against the wall and trying to balance himself with one hand and the other trapped in Wonshik’s metal arm....

Jaehwan shook his head, trying to put that image away but it was too late. Sometimes his dick surprised him with its ability to get hard when he barely had the energy to lift a finger.

Groaning in annoyance, Jaehwan wrapped a towel around his waist, wincing at the towel touching his sensitive dick even though the fabric was super soft. That’s how sensitive he was. He cracked the bathroom door open, checking the hallway. When he was sure there was no one around he walked to his room as fast as his exhausted legs would take him, dropping face down on his bed after kicking his close behind him. His dick’s sensitivity be damned, he was too tired to do anything else other than humping against the towel on the bed until he came, face buried into the sheet hopefully blocking his embarrassing moanings of Wonshik’s name. 

The next day Jaehwan woke up to a notification on his phone, titled “Congrats spidey. You win.” and that day was automatically a good day. He hadn’t decided what he wanted from everyone but he knew what he was going to ask Taekwoon. He’s finally going to hear what happened in Busan between him and Hakyeon.

..

More time passed - five weeks and 5 days but who’s counting - and the tension between Jaehwan and Wonshik only got more intense to the point the others have started to tease him about yet. Yes, just him because they didn’t have a deathwish (even though Wonshik wasn’t half as scary as everyone thought he was once you got to know him a little) and that he didn’t actually ‘hang out’ with the others. The only people he mainly interacted with were Hakyeon and Jaehwan; everyone else were on greeting terms mostly. The only reason they were even noticing things was because Hongbin monitored everything and apparently watching them fight was the most interesting thing around the base. Hakyeon always scolded them whenever he was around when they bullied Jaehwan but it was honestly worse.

“Seriously Jaehwan, what’s up with you two? You like you’re dancing instead of fighting,” Sanghyuk said with a snicker that only made Jaehwan roll his eyes.

“First of all, get a life. Secondly, we’ve been training together for months, we know each other’s techniques too well I guess,” he said, trying to justify, which wasn’t a lie.

But if Jaehwan was being honest he would admit to himself that things just felt different lately and even if it was pretentious he would say it wasn’t just him. It was the both of them.

They still fought for hours, leaving bruises all over each other (not equally of course) but every blow, every hit, and every push felt more than just a hit and a push. It was a game of push and pull they were both playing, trying to get close and not let the other get close at the same time.

“Sure, whatever you say, eight-legs,” Hongbin chuckled, surprisingly cool with the whole thing. To be honest Jaehwan thought any day he would put his foot down and kick Wonshik out or something, but it never came.

“Yeah, I know a Mr. and Mrs. Smith situation when I see one,” Taekwoon said, grinning as he chewed on his gum and left with a wink. 

Jaehwan sighed in defeat, not having the energy to argue (he literally didn’t have any energy left), taking a bag of salt and vinegar chips from the desk and leaving. They had snacks in Hongbin’s lab to watch him and Wonshik. Unbelievable. Hakyeon needs to give these people more chores.

..

In the following week the base got quieter and more empty by the day and though it was a nice change from having everyone around teasing Jaehwan about one thing or another it was still strange. Taekwoon flew to Poland for an international spy job despite Hakyeon’s protest. Sanghyuk left the next day, getting a call from someone telling him about troubles at his old lab in Pocheon, something about leaking gamma radiations. Hongbin found his weapons were being sold illegally in Daejeon so he suited up and left two days after Sanghyuk. 

Jaehwan couldn’t help but think there was a pattern, not necessarily a man-made one but it was still a pattern and if he was right, Hakyeon was bound to leave soon and the only thing he could think about was the possibility of him and Wonshik being left alone in the base. He couldn’t decide if he was nervous or excited but he couldn’t seem to not think about it. And then it happened. Hakyeon got called to the national intelligence service to discuss a possible national threat.

“Be safe guys. Call if anything happens,” he said with an uncertain smile before climbing into the black car sent to pick him up. To his surprise, Jaehwan found Wonshik looked more nervous and on edge than him but possibly for completely different reasons. Jaehwan wanted to assure him that he trusted him that he wouldn’t attack him; the man hadn’t had an episode, much to everyone's surprise, this whole time and Jaehwan didn’t see why he would start having them now. It was a little assumptious but Jaehwan dared thinking it was because Wonshik had been away from action and stress.

They didn’t speak the rest of the night, moving around each other in silence, eating and killing time in the lounge, Jaehwan surfing the channels aimlessly as Wonshik stared at the wall looking lost in his own head.

“I’ll sleep in the armory,” Wonshik broke the silence eventually, voice hoarse but firm. Jaehwan was startled by the statement.

“What- why?”

“It’s the safest room in the base that locks from the outside only.”

“I am not locking you in the armory!” Jaehwan gasped. Even the thought made his stomach twist.

“Jaehwan! Don’t be childish!” Wonshik exclaimed, voice higher than Jaehwan had ever heard him sober, though he still wasn’t shouting. He took a deep breath, closing his eyes for a moment before opening them and looking directly at Jaehwan, seemingly more collected and calm. “Look, it’s just up here and I’m not risking your life.”

“You’re not risking anything! You won’t regress. You’ve been fine for weeks- months now!” Jaehwan argued, almost out of his seat. This was ridiculous and Jaehwan wasn’t having it.

“I won’t gamble with your life. And it wasn’t a question or a suggestion,” he said, leaving no room for argument before leaving the room and a speechless Jaehwan. He came back with a sleeping bag and a pillow a few minutes later.

“Open the gate around 6:00 after checking the surveillance camera,” he said as he walked towards the hallway that led to the staircase leading to the armory without looking at Jaehwan. Jaehwan said nothing, too angry to speak. He turned around at the threshold of the hallway, looking at Jaehwan with fiery eyes.

“Understood?”

Jaehwan gritted his teeth, nails digging into his palm as he squeezed his fists on his lap.

“Yes.”

.. 

The notice came when they were sparring early in the morning, both their watches started going off so they ran inside and to the control room. It was a code red. They had to leave immediately.

“It’s Songdo!”

“The smart city?” Wonshik asked.

“Yeah, hold on,” Jaehwan pulled a chair and started clicking on the keyboard in lightspeed. “Someone has hacked the main system! This is not good…” It was a smart city which meant that if someone hacked into the main system they had access to literally everything. Banks, hospitals, police stations, schools. Everything. Jaehwan kept trying to gain some access but the hacker was too smart and had his own unique codes to block anyone who tried to shut him out.

“It’s Digitom…” 

“Who?” Wonshik asked, brows in a frown like he was saying ‘am I supposed to know who the fuck that is?’

“Some new super hacker. He’s been hacking stuff here and there making a name for himself for a while but nothing too serious. This is his biggest work so far. And it’s really fucking big!” Jaehwan turned to look at Wonshik with wide eyes, exclaiming how serious this was.

“Shit, he’s messing with the traffic lights.” It took only seconds for all the main street to get completely locked, several crashes and a shit ton of panic. Jaehwan managed to get a hold of some security cameras around the city, still trying to shut Digitom out.

“What does Digitom even mean?” Wonshik asked unimpressively, Jaehwan could see him roll his eyes even without seeing him.

“Digital phantom apparently. I know, it’s pretty dumb for someone  _ this _ smart.”

“Like you have room to say someone’s pseudonym is dumb.”

“Hey!” Jaehwan snapped at him, only to find the older looking at him with a faint teasing smile.

“Why are you so calm and making jokes? I’m busting my ass here!”

“Because I believe in you.” Jaehwan’s fingers stopped, hovering over the keyboard. He wasn’t even breathing. Wonshik said he  _ believes _ in him… “And no matter how smart that guy is, you’re smarter.”

Jaehwan could only nod, forcing his brain to start functioning again. Wonshik leaned closer to the monitors, both hands on the desk, watching the live cams closely, looking out for any serious thing. It looked like all communication was down in the city.

“Jaehwan, you need to leave right now,” Wonshik said suddenly, his face showed no signs of joking.

“What- why?”

“Look!” Jaehwan tore his eyes away from the screen in front of him to look at the other one on the right. He couldn’t believe his own eyes.

“Are those….”

“Lee’s minion robots? Sure looks like it.”

“But… Hongbin doesn’t make that sort of thing? Not in a long time! He destroyed them all.”

“Guess not. There’s no time for debate Jae, you need to go!”

“You’re coming with me.” Jaehwan pushed himself off the chair.

“We can’t leave the base empty.” Who was Wonshik trying to fool? That was a lame-ass excuse.

“Yeah we do. All the time. And I can’t fly the jet.” He shrugged, leaving no room for the elder to argue and then ordered Hanzo, Hongbin's AI, to keep trying to break into the system while they went to fight the real battle. “Come on, there’s no time for debate!”

There really wasn’t.

..

Jaehwan dragged his exhausted body with Wonshik following closely behind him to where their hotel room was located. He could feel Wonshik’s eyes burning at the back of his skull.

They were asked - not ordered because no one would be dumb enough to order Wonshik other than maybe Hakyeon - to stay in a hotel provided by the police department until things calmed down enough for the police to be able to take file the incident report. Usually Hakyeon handled these things but it was just the two of them so they had to suck it up. It was a formality really since thankfully there were no human casualties.

Wonshik’s anger and his urge to yell and possibly punch Jaehwan was palpable. Jaehwan had done something reckless. It could’ve cost him his life, but it didn’t. Instead, he killed the psychopath they were fighting along with his minions. 

_ Digitom had somehow gotten his filthy hands on the wastes of Hongbin’s damaged devices and machines. Anything they had broken and left at the fight scene somewhere he had found it and used to it recreate an army of his own. When Wonshik and Jaehwan got there it looked like an apocalypse: people running around screaming with weird looking robots running after them. Their main purpose was to stop anyone from reaching the control center building where Digitom was. _

_ They both made their way towards the building but from different sides, getting the robots away from the people and dividing them in half. By the time they got to the lobby, Digitom was on his way out, in an iron suit. It was a far cry from the masterpieces Hongbin makes but it was still a suit and it looked like it was armed. _

_ They were outnumbered, two verses 10 not including Digitom who was mostly watching. Suddenly Jaehwan got an idea. A really bad one but it was the only idea they had between the two of them.  _

_ “Wonshik, we need to get them out of the building!” he whispered when they got close enough. He couldn’t risk Digitom finding out about the plan. _

_ “Why?” _

_ “I have a plan. When we got out make sure there are no people around,” he managed to say between fighting for his life against a bunch of psycho zombies. _

_ “What are you gonna do?” Wonshik asked, pretty much out of breath and worry swimming in his eyes. _

_ “Just trust me,” was all Jaehwan had to say and Wonshik nodded. _

_ They somehow dragged the fight out of the building into the street. It was pretty much deserted but there was still a chance that some people decided to hide instead of running. Jaehwan took over and fought both sides as Wonshik ran to check the stores nearby and just like Jaehwan suspected there was an old couple hiding in the dry cleaning shop. Wonshik ushered them out and pushed them to the opposite side of the fight while he fought two robots who had escaped Jaehwan.  _

_ It was now or never. _

_ “Wonshik, on my signal run!” _

_ “What!” Wonshik shouted but Jaehwan didn’t have time to explain. _

_ “Hanzo, do you still have the clean slate protocol?” _

_ “Yes Mister. Lee Junior.” _

_ “Good. Can you hack into these things?” _

_ “Yes, I believe so.” _

_ “Lemme know when it’s done,” Jaehwan said, dodging a car door that was coming his way 60 miles per hour. _

_ About 30 seconds later, which felt like 30 minutes, Hanzo notified Jaehwan that it was done. _

_ “On my signal, activate protocol clean slate.” _

_ “Yes sir.” _

_ “Wonshik now!” he shouted, hoping Wonshik hears. He did, snapping his head toward Jaehwan before running the opposite direction as he was supposed to but one of the robots dropped a goddamn car on him. Jaehwan managed to kick the scrap piece of metal back and glue it to one of the other robots for a little while with a net. _

_ “Hanzo, now!” he shouted as he ran towards Wonshik, pushing the car off him with the help of the new spidey legs on his suit. He didn’t have time to check if Wonshik was injured or not; he just grabbed the man by the waist, wrapping the spidey legs around them both as he shot a web up towards the next building and used it to pull the both of them up to the sky right before all the robots, including the suit Digitom was wearing, blew up. _

The room key card wasn’t working probably due to the main system of the city just getting hacked.

Wonshik cursed under his breath.

“I could just get it through the windo—” Jaehwan was pushed away before he finished his sentence and the door was kicked open. “—or you could kick it open. I guess.”

Wonshik walked in without saying a word. Jaehwan huffed and followed him inside the cold and plain room. Jaehwan hated hotel rooms, they felt so…. Sterile. Jaehwan just wanted to tear the red torn suit away from his body and take a long and hot bath. Actually, he wasn’t sure if the hotel had hot water considering everything was supposed to be connected to everything and they clearly weren’t at the moment.

Wonshik was standing by the window with his hands grabbing the frame so tightly Jaehwan thought he might break them.

“I did what I had to do,” Jaehwan breathed, even though his heart was beating too fast in his chest. Wonshik was mad at him and he didn’t even know why! He didn’t do anything wrong. If anything, he saved everyone, including Wonshik.

The older man turned his head, glaring at Jaehwan with fire in his eyes. Jaehwan didn’t back down. He wasn’t intimidated by him anymore. They were (almost) equals and Jaehwan refused to be treated for less.

“You put yourself and everyone else in great danger!” he yelled. 

“Wonshik, in case you didn’t notice, dealing with extremely dangerous situations is kinda our job.” Jaehwan rolled his eyes. 

“Being reckless and stupid isn’t! You’re alive out of sheer luck!”

“I was not reckless!” Jaehwan shouted, throwing his hands up in frustration. “We couldn’t hold the robots back for much longer, we were outnumbered and if they had spread out and found their way to the crowd we would’ve had a much bigger problem. I had to think fast and that was the only way.”

“You should’ve pulled me out from where I was  _ trapped _ then!” Wonshik retorted, throwing his hands up.

“There was no time, dammit!”

Wonshik was in his personal space abruptly before Jaehwan could react, trapping him between his heavily built body and the white wall. They were both panting and out of breath.

“I could’ve lost you,” Wonshik grunted. 

Jaehwan's breath caught in his throat.

“You keep saying the others babied me and that I shouldn’t always depend on others and take matters into my own hands! Why are you acting like this?” Jaehwan spluttered.

Wonshik dropped his head lower, his dark sweaty locks falling over his face. The room was silent save for the sound of their heavy breaths.

“Because!” Wonshik shouted, punching the wall beside Jaehwan’s head with his metal arm but not with full force. “Because I care about you. Way more than I should.” He looked up, staring into Jaehwan’s wide eyes, emotions threatening to overflow at any given moment as he spoke again, voice barely louder than a whisper. ”Way more than I knew I could.”

Jaehwan couldn’t hear anything but the sound of his heart beating into his ears. 

It wasn’t clear who took the initiative, because one second Jaehwan was caged between Wonshik’s body and the wall then the next thing they knew they were kissing like it was the last thing they would do before they die.

Wonshik’s lips tasted like blood and dirt, exactly how Jaehwan had always imagined them. And he had been imagining kissing them for so long. Every time they trained, all Jaehwan could think about was how Wonshik’s muscles would clench when he punched and how his face would scrunch up and the way the sweat slid down from his temples to his neck and disappeared into his shirt—if he was wearing one. 

Jaehwan wanted to kiss him until his lips weren’t chapped and split anymore. His arms had found their way around the man’s broader shoulders, fingers tangled into his long hair. Wonshik kept saying he wanted to trim them but he wouldn’t. Maybe he knew Jaehwan secretly liked them.

So many nights Jaehwan had imagined pulling at them while the older man kissed his breath away and pounded into him but never allowed himself to hope. It was just a fantasy. But now that was here Jaehwan didn’t want to open his eyes, afraid it was just another dream he was going to wake up from soon. He opened his mouth, submitting to Wonshik, letting him take whatever he wanted. 

Wonshik barely gave him time to breathe; he kissed like a dying man, like Jaehwan was his only source of oxygen. It was like he was trying to taste every inch, his tongue rough against Jaehwan’s. The heady scent of dirt and sweat and underneath Wonshik’s body wash made Jaehwan moan softly into the other’s mouth shamelessly.

Wonshik snaked a hand, his human one, wrapped around Jaehwan’s middle, hoisting him up and closer to his body. Jaehwan slid his hand down to find the metal one was fisted and tense beside the older’s body. Almost as if he was afraid to touch Jaehwan with it. So he grabbed it by the wrist, pulling it up until it was in front of his face.

Wonshik paused his attack on Jaehwan’s lips to stare between him and his metal arm in confusion. Jaehwan slipped his thumb inside the clenched fingers trying to loosen the older’s tight fist. When he finally managed, he pulled the hand closer until it was cupping his cheek. Wonshik was left speechless, holding Jaehwan’s face delicately in his metal arm. 

The same arm that assisted him in committing some of the greatest assassinations of the past 5 decades. The arm that had been bathed in the blood of guilty and innocent so many times it was pointless to keep count of and yet, it felt like it was the most natural and innocent thing to hold Jaehwan’s soft cheek under its palm.

The younger kept his own hand on top of it, preventing Wonshik from pulling his hand away. He rubbed his thumb gently over the bruised skin of Jaehwan’s cheek and the boy melted into his touch, a long sigh leaving his mouth that he didn’t notice he was holding. He wanted Wonshik to touch him everywhere.

To Jaehwan, the arm wasn’t an alien object. It was part of Wonshik, it was part of what made him who he was, and Jaehwan was in love with him. With every part of him. For months. Call him young and stupid, but he knew it in his young inexperienced heart that it was real.

“Take me to bed,” Jaehwan whispered, hoping Wonshik would catch it.

The older pulled him closer until their lips touched again, the other hand around Jaehwan’s waist, hauling him to the twin bed with white sheets across the room. Jaehwan wrapped his legs around Wonshik’s middle, giggling into his mouth as he was being carried like a doll. Wonshik laid him down onto the bed so gently as if Jaehwan weighed nothing. Thinking about the raw strength and control of the winter soldier over every nerve and muscles in his body that allowed him this level of fluidity in his movements sent shivers down his spine. 

Wonshik’s eyes were telling Jaehwan that he was fighting an internal battle, caught between reaching out and taking what he’s been wanting for so long and backing out because… whatever reason. Knowing him it could be that he thought he wasn’t good enough for Jaehwan, or that he didn’t trust himself enough to get close to Jaehwan but whatever the reason was, it was holding him back.

Jaehwan cupped the man’s bruised face in both hands, catching the sad dark eyes.

“Stop fighting,” Jaehwan murmured.

“I can’t. I could lose control,” Wonshik said without meeting the younger’s eyes, but Jaehwan could feel the weight of shame and guilt inside his eyes no matter how hard he tried to hide them.

“You won’t! I trust you,” and he did, more than anyone in the whole world.

“You’re not very smart, Lee Jaehwan.”

“Excuse you, I am very smart! Number 1 student in both high school and university while part-time saving the world!” Jaehwan argued, feigning annoyance. Wonshik blinked silently then burst into laughter. The sound of his loud laugh filled the whole room. “What’s so funny?” Jaehwan asked, more petulant than before. 

Wonshik shook his head with a knowing smile and kissed the younger’s forehead chastely. Jaehwan’s frown melted away immediately.

“I don’t wanna hurt you.”  _ Again. _

“You won’t! I can protect myself. I just saved the whole city,” Jaehwan bragged. “Okay, maybe not the whole city, but you get the point. Plus, you trained me!”

“You really want this?” Wonshik asked after a few more moments of weighing the situation.

“ _ Yes!  _ Can we get rid of these disgusting suits already?” Jaehwan whined. 

Wonshik tittered and started shedding his clothes one by one. Jaehwan laid back, patiently watching the man strip. It wasn’t anything he hadn’t seen, save for the most private part, but he’d be damned if he didn’t enjoy every second of it.

The fact that Wonshik’s body looked like it was carved by the god himself wasn’t a secret but the way his tan skin glowed under the afternoon light was truly a moment to be framed. Too bad Jaehwan left his phone in the house. Wonshik sat back on his heels when he had stripped to his boxers.

Jaehwan assumed it was his turn. He tapped on the smartwatch around his left wrist and the suit was gone, stored safely into the device, leaving Jaehwan in his skin-tight briefs. Wonshik gaped in shock.

“I’m never gonna get used to this,” Wonshik confessed. He had seen that happen a few times now but every time he was just as shocked as the first time. The poor man was born when there weren’t even cellphones so Jaehwan couldn’t blame him.

“Me too, but as in I’m never gonna stop being thankful to Hongbin for this because taking this thing off was even more of a hassle than wearing it. And wearing wasn’t exactly a piece of cake-” Jaehwan was rambling again but Wonshik shut him up by kissing him.

“For the love of God, don’t mention Hongbin’s name right now… Or anyone else’s,” Wonshik groaned as if he was in actual pain by hearing Hongbin’s name.

“Fair. Then shut me up,” Jaehwan said mischievously. 

“We’re bloody and muddy.”

“Do you wanna take this to the shower? If you want to freeze of course,” Jaehwan teased, tickling the older’s chest with the tip of his fingers.

“Again, I’ve had to survive in much worse situations but your delicate body probably couldn’t handle it,” Wonshik said with a teasing smile.

“Just shut up! Ughh!” Jaehwan groaned in frustration, flipping them in one swift motion so he was on top and the taller man was lying under him with a smile on his face, suggesting he let Jaehwan do that. Jaehwan didn’t give a fuck.

He caught Wonshik’s chapped bloody lips with his, barely giving the man time to catch his breath. Jaehwan’s hands roamed all over the tan skin of Wonshik’s chest. He had dreamed of touching them for months, getting distracted every time Wonshik took his shirt off during the training. Jaehwan could count the number of fights he had lost to the older just because he got distracted following the trail of sweat on Wonshik’s abs.

The younger rolled his hips down experimentally, feeling Wonshik’s length that was well over half hard. The older grunted deep into his chest, sending vibrations through their connected lips. Wonshik looked so beautiful, dirty, messy and… Not wearing a mask. 

He laid under the younger, bare, with all his scars and his pain, all the guilt and blood, and all the regrets, right there for Jaehwan to see. 

The metal arm was lying gently on top of Jaehwan’s thigh. Jaehwan used to think it would be cold to touch. He was the most surprised to find out it was even warmer than Wonshik’s skin. Must’ve been the machines working inside it. Jaehwan also thought it would feel rough against his skin. If Jaehwan was completely honest he couldn’t describe the feeling, he just knew he wanted it all over his body.

Their positions were switched faster than Jaehwan could comprehend. Wonshik had his metal arm on his hip, gripping tightly, and the other holding him up, hovering above Jaehwan. They both knew that it wasn’t the time or the place for them to go all the way. 

Jaehwan worked quickly to rid them both of their underwear, almost tearing Wonshik’s while he was pulling it off and flung it away in the general direction of the door. Arching up, Jaehwan rolled his hips along Wonshik’s experimentally, feeling their lengths rub against each other in the most obscene way, both men fully hard and erect. Wonshik cursed at the sudden sensation as Jaehwan moaned at how good it felt.

“Shit-” he huffed his breath out, bringing the metal arm between their bodies to grab a hold of both their dicks so they could chase their release. Jaehwan jerked at the sudden feeling of having Wonshik’s metal palm around them, the heat, the tightness and the alien texture of it.

Feeling his cheeks heat up, Jaehwan hooked an arm around the soldier’s shoulder and pulled him down until their lips met again. It was a wet, hot, messy and impatient moving of lips against each other, eager teeth pulling at bruised lips until the cuts reopened. The heat of his body above him like a human furnace and his untiring hand that was jerking them both in smooth undulating motions, Jaehwan wouldn’t change a thing about it.

..

Later when the sun had only just set and the sky was turning all shades of pink, purple and orange, they were lying under the sterile-white sheets of the cold hotel room, limbs tangled and the sheets barely covering them. Jaehwan heaved a sigh into Wonshik’s collar bone, trying to make sense of what happened a few hours earlier. Wonshik had his fingers tangled in Jaehwan’s hair, combing the locks gently, his breath even and slow. He was relaxed.

Jaehwan suspected that the older was falling asleep so he tilted his head up slowly only to catch the older awake staring at the ceiling. Feeling the younger’s eyes on him, Wonshik looked down so their eyes met, his lips curving into a subtle smile. They should probably get dressed; the police could come wanting to speak to them any minute now and the door didn’t have a lock since Wonshik broke it open.

“Are you gonna leave again?” Jaehwan blurted, feeling his chest tighten as the smile melted off the older man’s face. 

“Jaehwan…”

“Don’t.” He didn’t let him finish. Whatever half-ass excuse he had, Jaehwan didn’t want to hear it. He tore his sore tired body off the bed and off Wonshik’s body but he was hauled back into bed and trapped under Wonshik.

“Is this what you want?” Wonshik asked with a stone cold expression but there was no anger in his voice.

“Do I want you to stop going off the grid into the most dangerous parts of the world doing god knows what without backup so you won’t end up half dead dragging your ass to the base? Yes, it is what I want.” Jaehwan said without stuttering, his eyes burning hot into Wonshik’s. He was not backing down from that fight.

Wonshik growled through gritted teeth, punching the mattress beside the younger’s head. Jaehwan didn’t even flinch; he could see through him. It wasn’t real.

“You’re not scaring me off, Wonshik.” He shook his head, taking the older’s face into his palm and looking right into his dark eyes without a single drop of fear of the man. “Let me help you. Let  _ us  _ help you. You don’t have to go through this alone.”

The facade on Wonshik’s face melted away as his body lowered, arms slightly shaking. Jaehwan kissed him and held him in his arms protectively as the older relinquished himself over to him.

“Promise me.”

“I promise.”

  
  
  
  


**Author's Note:**

> HELLOOOOOOOOO  
> How is everyone? did yall give up on me? hope not.  
> Things have been... not great for a while and I decided it was best to take a break from everything but now I'm mostly back~  
> This had been in my Docs unfinished for so long! literally!!! for more than 6 months I think and I never leave stuff but I had hit a huge block on this one but one night without any plans I started writing and 2 days after I finished it.  
> Let me know what you guys thought about the characters!!! pwease uwu  
> Thank you Rachel for always having my back for beta'ing even tho I made Hakyeon cap kjshdkas  
> I also made edits of Wonshik and Jaehwan in their costumes ;) but unfortunately had to use fansite pics so I can't post them, but if anyone wants to see them please don't be shy to dm me! I'd send them to you gladly uwu  
> you know where to find my dumbass: [Tumblr](https://babieken.tumblr.com)  
> 


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